Bulldogs World

First it makes her insanely itchy, then she vomits, so we switched her to a raw diet. She vomits cooked food also. The raw is easy to digest and has such a high moisture content. She also had an ear infection that would not go away. She hasn't been to the vet since switching her to raw close to 2 years ago except for her yearly checkup.

In the processed food it is not the raw ingredients she has a problem with, it is the chemicals and artificial vitamins and preservitives in it. We even tried single ingredient dehydrated food, but it had some vitamins added back and a preservative, and still vomited it up and was itchy-never mind how insanely expensive it was.  She itches from vitamins and supplements, anything with chemicals or preservatives. (don't know how we are going to find glucosamine she can take)

Feeding your dog your own prepared food is NOT overly complicated! Cooking definitely makes it more complex, you have to add back what cooking destroys and you have to find a source of calcium since they can't have cooked bones. I can not help you with cooking, I decided to keep it as simple as possible. Figured why cook if I then have to counter-act the cooking?

Raw has a simple guidline: 80% muscle meat 10% bone and 10% secreting organ. This is not a chiseled in stone ratio that must be acheived at every meal. It is actualy so easy to follow and once you do it a bit and see the amazing changes in your dog you realize you don;t have to make it an exact science.

The label on a dog food bag is not giving you an exact science either on the breakdown of what your dog is getting. It is ALL based on dry, uncooked ingredients, and also makes NO mention of which of those nutrients are actually bioavailable to a dog. Just because it says it has 30% protein, for example, doesn't mean your dog is getting 30% protein. If ANY of that protein is plant based it is not all bioavailable to a dog. IF ANY of that protein is from meat by-products, not all of it will be bioavailable to your dog.

Bioavailable means that the protein (or whatever nutrient) is in a form that your dogs body is able to break down and utilize. If their liver/pancreas can't properly break it down, it is not available to your dog. Plant based proteins and some animal parts, (like feathers, feet, beaks-by=products) can't be properly broken down and most is passed as waste. The dog's liver will sure try though! And after a while having to try so hard puts a strain on their liver and kidneys (how many older dogs have kidney problems? And the first thing the vets say is to reduce the protein because protein is to blame. It's NOT the protein that is the problem, it's the WRONG kind of protein that's the problem. Senior dogs need MORE protein, but it MUST be completely bioavailable)

That's what I LOVE the most about raw food. It is 100% bioavailable, easy to digest, species appropriate, and gives her 100% of the nutrients she needs to not just survive but to THRIVE, delivered in a form that her body can get the MOST nutrition with the LEAST amount of stress on her organs.

I don't feed veggies-mainly because I want it to be as simple and as bioavailable as possible.  I can't help much with them other than to tell you to make sure you cook/smash the veggies first. Dogs do not have the enzyme to break down plant cell walls like an herbivore/omnivore does, so in order to get any nutrients out you have to break down the cell walls for them.

just like any processed food.  I never had good luck with Natural Balance and my sister had Cleo on it and she has miserable on it.  Sorry you lugged back 2 large bags :(.   

I bet Cathy has given you the ratio of raw feeding.  you can feed her meat and bone you buy at the store.

mine eat ground up whole chickens and I chop on the organs, as well as beef and some pork.  I haven't bought dog food for a few months now. 

If you want to do chicken. Boil the chicken. Steam broccoli,cauliflower,carrots, cabbage, squash, kale. Any of these vegetables are good. Maybe start with just two. Put veggies in a food processor and puree well. You can also put chicken in food processor as well so it is ground up nicely. The most important things to add is bone meal powder which you can order on line for calcium or ground up egg shells.Also add a Pet Tab for the rest of vitamins and minerals and an omega 3 fish oil capsule or some canned sardines. Hope this helps. As far as ratio you can start with 2/3 meat and 1/3 veggies with the added supplements. If your dog does not do well on chicken, try ground beef or ground turkey. Good luck. Hope this helps!

Thanks everyone for the wonderful advice!!! Now at least I have some options as to what to do.